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“God created you with an awesome purpose for your life. Through prayer, Bible study, and community with other believers you can discover His plan for you. The Rock has opportunities to help you grow in your walk with God. Take advantage of these classes and resources.”

Message

Message Recap

Last week we learned how the devil came to the earth to deceive Adam and Eve and to
steal the authority that God had given them. Jesus came to earth, died, rose from the dead, and took back the authority
that the devil stole, and now He offers it back to us. God wants to empower us to have authority
over the devil in Jesus’ name, that we can be tools of His will on earth and conduits
of His love, wisdom, compassion, and power.

God wants to empower us to have authority over the devil in Jesus’ name, that we can be tools of His will on earth and conduits of His love, wisdom, compassion, and power.

Christians often don’t walk in all the power that God originally intended us to have. Instead, we find ourselves weak, enslaved,
subdued, addicted, or in bondage. Because of this, God’s will is not being done through us to the extent that He wants it to.
But why are we in bondage?

This week we will talk about the influence of fallen angels. Angels are ministering spirits whom God created
to minister to us, serve us, and have power and influence. They can travel from
heaven to earth and can have relationships with us and communicate to us, as we
see in many occasions in the Bible. But fallen angels have rejected God and serve God’s enemy, Satan.

In Mark 5, Jesus encounters a man with a legion of unclean spirits. They
worship Jesus when they see Him because they know who He is and know that He is
worthy – they can’t help but fall to the ground. As Christians, we cannot be demon-possessed,
but demons still inhabit our world and whisper around us to influence our
thoughts and behavior.

1. Satan is a fallen angel. Luke 10:18

Lucifer was a top angel who wanted to be God on His throne, so he was cast down and
became Satan. Luke 10:18 tells us that
Jesus saw him thrown out of heaven like lightning.

2. Demons are fallen angels. Revelation 12:4

We learn in Revelation that when Satan was cast out of heaven, he took a third
of the angels with him and they became demons. Demons, like angels, are
powerful. They can speak to you, influence you, and cause illness, blindness, muteness, or crippling
disfigurement (although not all of physical ailments are spiritually related).

3. Demons are persons who can communicate and develop relationships with us. Mark 5

Some people have a spirit that is lustful, dirty, gossipy, deceitful, jealous, critical,
etc. and they can’t seem to get away from it. These are spiritual influences that the Bible acknowledges:

4. Demons’ influences have leverage in anonymity.

Satan uses anonymity as a powerful tool; you will certainly not resist him if you
believe that he is not there! Though many times we have afflictions that can be aided by medicine or counseling,
some afflictions are spiritual and can only be battled spiritually.

5. Demonic voices are compatible with the deeds of the flesh. Galatians 5:19-21

If Satan can get you to think you are not a reflection of the image of God, then
he has power over you. He can convince you that you are not worthy of love, attention, or blessing, and in extreme
cases, he can even convince you to harm yourself. He can also influence you to act with the
mentality of the world, only thinking of your own interests and harboring all
kinds of poor attitudes toward others. All of this is in the hope of “feeling better,” but his promises are lies that never come true.

6. Jesus has given us authority over demonic influences. Matthew 28:19-20

God gives us authority to be free from all evil influence. The same powerful, healing spirit in Jesus,
the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead, is the same spirit available
to all of us (Romans 8). The only reason
He is not doing miracles in your life is that you are not accessing Him.

You must command that evil spirits leave you alone. Don’t ask and don’t say please. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus says, “All authority has been given to me,” and
He wants to give authority to you.

All the spiritual forces of evil are under your authority because it is Christ’s authority that you claim as His follower.

Make a decision to listen to God instead of the harmful presence that seeks to
influence you. You must believe that God has so much more for you – more abundant life!
Rebuke Satan from your life and command him to flee from you.

This 4-part series examines what it really means to the have the kingdom of God here on earth and how to release the power of God in your life. In Part 4, Pastor Miles talks about how demons influence us and how we are to respond.